


Tangled Brushes

by catinabox, RainingSnowflakes



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Tangled AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-11-21 13:03:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11358081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catinabox/pseuds/catinabox, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainingSnowflakes/pseuds/RainingSnowflakes
Summary: For as long as he can remember, young artist Yusuke was forbidden by his father and sensei, Madarame, to never leave the tower. But as his 18th birthday approaches, he longs to look for more inspiration outside, especially to see the strange lights that appear in the sky on his birthday each year.As it happens, a thief and pirate named William Kidd stumbles into the tower a few days before his birthday. Holding his stolen loot hostage, he coerces him into taking him to the outside world, and their wild adventure to see the flying lanterns begins... with Father Madarame hot on their trail.





	1. Prologue

_This is the story of how I died._

_Now don't worry guys, this is actually a freakin’ awesome story and to be honest, it isn't even mine._

_This is the story of a boy named Yusuke and it starts with the moon._

_Now, once upon a time, a single drop of moonlight fell from the heavens and from this small drop of moon, grew a magic, silver flower. It had the ability to heal the sick and injured. An ability that grabbed the attention of this old guy, Father Madarame, who instead of sharing the moon’s gift, hoarded its healing power to make himself alive for many years. And all he needed to do was to sing a special song._

* * *

With a voice hoarse from age and lack of use, Madarame began to sing a song to the silver and blue flower.

**_Flower, gleam and glow…_ **

**_Let your power shine,_ **

**_Make the clock reverse,_ **

**_Bring back what once was mine._ **

**_What once was mine…_ **

As the flower’s glow intensified, bathing him in a soft silvery light, Madarame felt a powerful but gentle energy surround him, filling his body with a feeling of strength and youthfulness. His face and hands had no wrinkle in sight and the hair in his ponytail, which was once as white as snow, was replaced with a strong shade of black save for a few white strands peppered in.

Madarame breathed a sigh of relief as he was thankful he could continue to make use of the flower’s power.

* * *

_All right you get the gist, he sings to it, he turns young, creepy am I right._

_Hundreds of years later, there grew two kingdoms, one on the west and another on the east. The rulers of the kingdoms were both beloved by the people, especially the king and queen of the eastern kingdom. And the queen was going to have a baby, but got sick, real sick._

_She was running out of time and that’s usually when people start to look for a miracle, or in this case a magic silver flower..._

* * *

Removing the basket, Madarame placed his lantern on the ground as he crouched close. After singing his usual song, his usual feeling of ease was quickly replaced by one of panic as he heard the distant sounds of shouting and dogs barking.

Madarame grabbed his lantern and placed the basket back over the flower as he quickly turned around to hide behind a large rock. In his haste, he heard his lantern knock the basket over, but with the voices growing louder he didn’t have time to turn around and put it back in place. In his hiding place, Madarame watched as a team of men appeared into his field of vision. The men were clad in armor and regal helmets with moon symbols adorned on them, the emblem of the eastern kingdom. There was no doubt in Madarame's mind that these were the rumored men that were searching for a cure for the eastern queen's illness.

“We found it!” Yelled one of the men.

Upon those words a small mob of people took out shovels and started getting to work in removing the flower from the ground. Unaware of a pair of eyes glaring at them for taking away his precious treasure.

* * *

_The magic of the silver flower, healed the queen. A healthy baby boy, a prince was born, with beautiful silver hair._

_I’ll give ya guys a hint, that’s Yusuke._

_To celebrate his birth, the eastern rulers launched a flying lantern into the sky. And for that one moment, everything was perfect._

_And then that moment ended_ …

* * *

Climbing into the balcony, Madarame headed towards the windows of the king and queen’s room. He pushed the window opened and climbed inside.

As Madarame quietly approached the cradle a few feet away from the king and queen’s bed, he looked over the edge to get a glance at the famous infant prince. The infant was sleeping peacefully, his hair splayed on the pillow. True to the rumors, the prince did indeed have silver hair, which was bit long for a newborn boy.

**_“Flower, gleam and glow_**

**_Let your power shine”_ **

He sang as the baby’s silver hair started to glow, the skin on his hand went from wrinkled to youthful. That was a good sign he grinned to himself. He took out a pair of scissors as he moved to try to cut a lock of the magical hair.

**_“Make the clock rever-”_ **

The moment the scissors snipped the glowing silver lock, it immediately stopped glowing and turned into a dark color. Madarame gasped in horror as the skin of his hand instantly reverted to its wrinkled state.

The next thing the slumbering parents of the infant heard was the crying of their child. They woke up in surprise and saw a dark hooded figure at the balcony with their precious baby boy in the figure’s arms. Before they can react, the figure and their son were gone from that winter night.

* * *

_Madarame_ _broke into the castle, stole the child, and just like that, gone!_

_The eastern kingdom searched and searched, but even with the aid of their neighbor and long time ally the western kingdom, they can not find their prince, for deep within the forest between the two kingdoms, in an hidden tower white as ivory, Madarame raised the child as his own._

_Madarame had found his new magic flower, but this time he was determined to keep it hidden._

* * *

"Why can’t I go outside?” asked the young boy.

Father Madarame remained cautious in his response. He knew he had to make the little boy fearful so he would never stray from the safety of the tower.

“The outside world is a dangerous place filled with horrible, selfish people,” he replied. He did not want to lose Yusuke. The child and his power are part of him now. He treasured Yusuke as he would a prized rose or a precious jewel.

“Yes daddy.”

* * *

_But the walls of that tower can’t hide everything._

_Each year, on his birthday, the East and West kingdoms released thousands of lanterns into the sky, in hope that one day, the lost prince would return..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help but notice the parallels between Yusuke and Rapunzel (sheltered and love for painting, raised by a guardian that is associated with vanity) and the rare pair that is Ryukita has stolen my heart and my life, so I had to contribute to the tag.
> 
> This is my first time posting something in a long time, so apologies that I'm a bit rusty ;v; Enjoy!


	2. When will my life begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you catinabox for being a great beta and for encouraging me to keep on writing.❤️

Slamming open the shutters, Yusuke leaned out the window to breathe in the cold but fresh winter air. The valley before him provided a stunning view, the meadow below was covered with a thin layer of white snow. From the crest of the steep surrounding the cliffs, a waterfall is plunging to a sparkling, winding stream below. Near the stream was a plum tree which had just started to bloom, which was a bit rare for them to bloom this early. But it was nice to smell the aroma of plum.

After drinking in the sight, he then lifted a pot from the windowsill but was disappointed that the little creature he was looking for wasn’t there.

“Hmmm, I wonder where you are hiding now Alibaba?” He murmured. As he spoke those words he felt something tug at the hem of his dark blue kimono.

He looked down to see the source of the tugging to see a fox which was almost as white as snow save for a few specks of black on it's ears and tip of the tail. Around it's neck was a collar with a padlock for a tag. It was Yusuke’s longest companion, Goemon.

He had the fox ever since he heard the cries of an infant fox from outside the tower when he was thirteen years old and begged Madarame to take him in. When brought in, the poor thing was shivering from the cold to the point it scared Yusuke into thinking it won’t survive. With no sign of the baby fox’s mother and noticing the bond between the boy and the fox, Madarame decided to allow the fox to stay in the tower. The fox was named after Yusuke’s favorite hero,the noble ninja thief Goemon.

The fox gestured Yusuke to a pot near the fireplace. And there she was a black chameleon with thin green stripes and the top of it’s head a bright orange color, sound asleep.

“Asleep in the middle of a game again Alibaba?” said Yusuke, exasperated by Alibaba’s unwillingness to take the hide and seek seriously, which happens a lot.

His stern words awoke the chameleon, causing it to yawn and look back at them with an expression of annoyance for being disturbed from its nap.

“Well Alibaba, if you aren’t going to take this game seriously, then what do you want to do?”

Alibaba skittered out of the pot and over to the windowsill, gesturing her tail to point out the window.

“Ohhh no Alibaba,” said Yusuke, as he gestured the chameleon to come back inside. “Goemon and I would prefer to stay in here and so do you.”

Alibaba only glared at him and stuck out some of her little tongue out.

“Now don’t give me that look Alibaba, staying here isn’t so bad when you get used to it.”

Indeed that despite being in an isolated area, the top of the tower made for a small but comfortable living space. On the main level was a small kitchen, along with a living room with a fireplace, and a workstation for paintings. The window that Father Madarame entered and exited the tower was off to one side. He slept in a bedroom on this cozy level of the tower.

Up a set of winding stairs was a small loft that acts as Yusuke’s bedroom. Here he kept many of his paints and sketchbooks, a shelf full of books, and little beds for Goemon and Alibaba.

Yet despite the comfortable living space, Alibaba always seems to try and push Yusuke and Goemon to go outside the tower. She was an odd chameleon indeed.

Alibaba came to the tower a few months ago, apparently hiding in Madarame’s basket and stayed with them ever since, though she prefered to hide away from Madarame and grabbing his food when the older man wasn’t looking. Her craftiness was what inspired Yusuke to name her after one of the main heroes of the tale of the Forty Thieves, about a young man who stole treasure from the titular thieves by hiding in the shadows to get to the location.

Putting Alibaba on his shoulder, Yusuke then used his silver hair to pull a lever near the ceiling. Thick wooden shutters that covered the windows over his head at the tower’s peak burst open, flooding the tower with sunlight. Their day was about to begin. Starting with the usual morning lineup.

First, he must start on the chores which consisted of sweeping and mopping the floor ‘til it shines, dusting the furniture, and cleaning his and Madarame’s kimonos by 7:15. When all the chores are finished, Yusuke would go to the bookshelf and read some books, especially his three favorites.

His first favorite was the one on botany filled with colorful pictures of flowers. The second was the one filled with beautiful paintings and the stories behind them and their artists. And his final favorite were the ones filled with tales of heroes and thieves, though they often ended on rather bittersweet or sad notes like Alibaba getting riches at the cost of his brother or the Goemon and his son getting executed.

He was so immersed in his books that he didn’t notice that he was about to neglect feeding himself. Goemon and Alibaba had to pull at his kimono to remind him it’s lunchtime. He went to the kitchen downstairs and prepared a lunch of rice and miso soup.

Then after lunch they solved some jigsaw puzzles, throw some darts, and baked some anpan for snacks. Used the clay to make sculptures and pottery. Dancing and singing. Used some wax to make more candles than they need. A bit of shogi (Alibaba’s almost human like intelligence made a good opponent for Yusuke). And after all the sitting, he did some stretches and used his long hair to practice climbing up the ceiling.

But despite all the things Yusuke and his companions can do in the tower, deep down he cannot deny one thing. He was bored. Probably the most bored he had ever been in his entire life, which he found rather surprising considering how he had this feeling yesterday, and the day before that, and so on.

Even Alibaba who has been living in the tower the least compared to Yusuke and Goemon is feeling the years boredom and was mentally rolling her eyes on the fact they can stand to live cooped up in here so long. Especially watching Yusuke do the task of brushing his hair for hours on end.

With no other activities to do together, Yusuke walked towards the area on the other side of the room. The floor around that side of the room was littered with canvases, paints, and brushes. At the wall was a small desk with pens and paper for writing. This area is where he and sensei worked on their paintings.

Yusuke loved painting. A lot. He practically lived and breathed art. It’s basically been his whole life ever since he was a child and would paint on the walls enough that Madarame saw that he had some talent in him and decided to take the role as sensei to share all the art skills he knew. Once Madarame started selling his paintings and putting financial pressure on Yusuke, he found himself having more and more frequent art blocks.

So in order to have enough money for essentials, Madarame would give him tasks and jobs in between those blocks. The jobs would involve Madarame bringing back a picture and had Yusuke examine it. Then had him reproduce the painting, right to the exact stroke.

For tasks, Madarame would show Yusuke pieces of handwritten paper and had him write, no draw the handwriting on the paper but with different words. Figuring out how the pen slips, how the writer held the pen, the pressure on the nib… sometimes he had to use a magnifying glass to analyze it. It was more fascinating than merely copying a painting. And with each job and task his father was always happy when a painting or writing looked exactly the same.

But even though he liked the paintings he copied and doing the tasks of drawing words on a note in one’s hand writing, Yusuke wished he had more inspiration to create an original work for his canvas. For now he would have to settle on finishing the reproduction of painting Madarame brought back a few days ago. It was a simple medium sized painting with a view of a bush full of yellow and white flowers, of what Yusuke had believe to be camellias.

Working on the reproduction he thought of the lights that appear in the winter night sky on his birthday. He then looked at the space above the fireplace covered by red drapes. Behind the drapes was his most personal mural, a replica of the view from his window - a night scene depicting the glowing lights rising into the sky above snow covered fields and hills.

Feeling a small smidge of inspiration, he pulled back the curtains and painted a small picture of himself sitting on top of a blooming plum tree. The mini version of himself was looking up at the sky with an expression of wonder as his incredibly long silver hair trailed down the tree.

In a few days, the beautiful lights will appear in the evening sky just like they do on his birthday each year. He wonders what is it like out from where they glow and that maybe this year his father might finally let him go.


End file.
